Book: Yes You Can, My Own Testimony
Author: Engr. Magnus Chinasokwu Orji
Year of publication: 2017
Publishers: Magzybest Farms and
Agro-Allied Services, Aguda, Lagos State
Reviewer: Chinaka Okoro
WHEN I picked Yes You Can, My Own Testimony by Engineer Magnus Chinasokwu Orji for explication, I was dismissive about its title, especially judging from the seeming impossibility of one achieving such academic feats just the once.
However, I heard the still voice of wisdom urging me on to “open and read”. I did. And I got a vicarious thrill out of the book filled with countless edifying lessons.
As I perused Yes You Can, My Own Testimony, I discovered some of the principles that egged the author on.
It seemed the author kept to R.G. Ingersoll’s instruction in his book The Liberty of Man and other Essays that that “every child should be taught to be self-supporting, and everyone should be taught to avoid being a burden on others…
“Real education is the hope of the future. The development of the brain, the civilisation of the heart, will drive want and crime from the world…Education…is the friend of honesty, of morality, of temperance…”
However, certain situations are indispensable to the attainment of quality education, as the author suggests in the book. The journey of life isn’t easy, even as one’s vision towards achievement of greatness is always confronted by the vicissitudes of life. It requires commitment, focus and unwavering determination to conquer the enemies that hinder attainment of greatness.
Poor family background and lack of encouragement from significant others could be challenges that prevent one from attaining one’s set goals. But he is of the view that some of these discouraging factors could be surmounted.
These are the main preoccupation of Yes You Can, My Own Testimony; a book of 100 pages excluding the 16 pages of the prelims compartmentalised into 16 chapters each of which deals with unalike topics.
In contemporary Nigerian society, academic giants are seldom accorded social recognition, especial if one is self-made. But money giants or bags usually are.
It is quite interesting that Engineer Magnus Chinasokwu Orji had time to write his autobiography as a way of encouraging the youth to imbibe the principle of self-reliance.
To write one’s autobiography can be taxing as there are temptations to “colour” facts and engage in wanton exaggerations. But Engineer Orji vividly captured situations as they were and are.
A summary of Engineer Orji’s life is that he has always been an achiever, a motivator and an intellectual role model. Growing up in the same town from where Engineer Orji comes from, one thing I am certain about him is that he has never allowed any obstacle to stop him from a set goal.
Engineer Orji has succeeded in presenting an excellent account of himself using the medium of a moving autobiography.
He presents his grass-to-grace story from a perspective quite perceptive, simple and vivid to the reader. Yes You Can, My Own Testimony acts as a motivator for the youth, especially those who want to work hard to succeed in life.
Success in life is not measured only by size of possessions but also by how much an individual’s life touches positively on the lives of others.
In chapter one, which is the “origin”, the author journeyed into mythology of names. In the meaning of meaning, an aspect of the study of the English language, facts and objects are examined from the standpoint of their significance or implication to another fact or object. In the circumstances, he related his name Magnus to what he has become.
It is true that names given to children by their parents influence what they become. If Magnus, a Latin name which means greatness has played an intrinsic role in his grass-to-grace narrative, then it means names are factors to what one becomes, including when one is an efulefu or a failure.
Other sub-topics examined in this chapter are coping with early economic challenges, departure from the village, among others.
Chapter two takes a look at journey to school with sub-topics such as Magnus Goes to School. This reminds one of an elementary school literature book known as Eze Goes to School, primary education, school farm, garden and agriculture, among others.
From chapter three to the 16th chapter, the author gave accounts of some scintillating academic accomplishments that sound outlandish to the feeble-minded Discipline and Inner Growth. Therein he said: “Suppress your ruinous weakness and your craving for comfort, attack them from every side! Crush your desire for enjoyment; do not give it air to breathe. Be strict with yourself; do not grant your carnal ego the bribes it is restively demanding…
“You must set about rooting out the very desire to have things pleasant, to get on well; to be contented. You must learn to like sadness, poverty, pain and hardship…”
In the forward (sic) to the book, Professor Placid Njoku, the pioneer Vice-Chancellor, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State said: “…Yes You Can, My Own Testimony is, indeed, a true life experience of the author, Engr. Magnus Chinasokwu Orji. It is highly motivational in concept and is advisory to youths and children as well as to all men and women who wish to move from their current levels to higher pedestals.
“The 16-chapter message reveals the good and challenging aspects of the journey through life and suggests that determination and perseverance are indispensable for overcoming any challenge. The story is personal but very compelling…”
The book is recommended for every family’s bookshelf. Those who want to improve their self-worth in order to become relevant to themselves, family and society would find the book very gripping and didactic.
Students in primary, secondary, tertiary institutions as well as professional bodies should make the book a dependable companion.
Unlike most first-edition publications that are almost always riddled with errors, few errors are noticed in the book.
For instance the word forward was used instead of foreword on page IV, Aqua instead of Akwa (Akwa Ibom State) (page 36), luxurious in the place of luxury (luxurious bus instead of luxury bus) page 40, born instead of borne on page 46.
However, these minor errors were not substantial enough to invalidate the significance of this work. Therefore, buy two and give one to a friend.
